Helen Ochyra

“The land is all shades of spice, from cinnamon to paprika, saffron to cumin.” Tenerife gets a bad rap. Yes, if you hit the resorts you’ll find high-rise hotels and English breakfasts, but explore just a little further and you’ll encounter dramatic volcanic landscapes, ancient fishing villages and fresh fish …

“There is, I am learning, a sherry for all occasions.” Last month I visited the city of Jerez, the home of sherry. Before my visit I was convinced that I didn’t like sherry. But then I found myself trying it with everything from jamón ibérico to chocolate cake, and I …

“Just outside Doune, Argaty Red Kites has daily feeding sessions. The resident population was reintroduced here in 1996 and puts on quite a display.” Stirling is one of Scotland’s unsung cities. And yet it has played a major role in everything from nation-defining battles to Monty Python sketches. I visited …

“Winter is surely spa season. In the summer I want to be outside, basking in the sun at café tables or on the beach, but now I can think of nothing better than holing up in a steamy subterranean hydrotherapy suite and warming my muscles with hot jets and a …

“The land on which Paolo and I are standing was for centuries the bit that teetered on the very edge of the map, just back from the line that Christopher Columbus sailed across in 1492, proving that to do so would not mean falling into the abyss.” When I told …